Croup is very common among young children. It is characterized by its cough that sounds very hoarse, like the barking of a dog. The reason for this unique coughing sound is that is causes the respiratory system, especially the trachea, larynx and bronchial tube to inflame and tighten up. This results in the unique sounding cough, as well as a variety of other symptoms, including a very hoarse and raspy voice. There is also a noise, that isn’t wheezing, but a bit deeper, when a child with croup is breathing.

Croup usually begins like a normal cold with the fever, slight cough and stuffy nose. However, it takes up to 72 hours for croup to develop. When kids have croup, they’re symptoms can subside or even different during the day when they are moving around. However, at night, the symptoms return and many children awaken during the night to violent coughing fits. There isn’t much to do for these violent fits, but you can administer children’s cough medicine which sometimes helps to ease the cough and gets the child in the right frame of mind.

As a parent, temper tantrums from you toddler is something that is expected. However, they can be difficult to deal with. So exactly how do you handle your child during a temper tantrum and how can you properly teach them to deal with their emotions in a way that promotes mental health in the future? It can seem impossible, but there are a couple well known techniques you can employ if you wish to deal with temper tantrums effectively.

The first is to ignore the temper tantrum completely. Act as if it doesn’t bother you. Your child will learn from this. They will eventually realize that tantrums are not an effective way of getting your attention or getting what they want. This will help them think and develop other skills to getting your attention or what they want. They will be forced to stop throwing tantrums to get what they want.

Another technique is the famous “time out.” A time out allows a child the chance to be taken away from the situation and to calm down. This will teach them that sometimes you need to remove yourself from a situation to calm down before letting your emotions get the best of you. Time outs, however, can only be effective for children who can understand the reasoning behind it.

If you have a child, you need to know about impetigo. Impetigo is a bacterial skin infection. It causes little red blisters that eventually burst to leave moist skin and then form a golden crust that spreads outward. Most children contract this disease around their mouth or nose and their arms or legs. Impetigo is contracted by coming in contact with the disease when they have an open wound. Usually the infection is passed by another child that has the infection. However the bacteria that causes this affliction can be found anywhere. It can even be spread by your child bathing in a tub with a fresh wound or scratch.

 

If impetigo goes untreated then serious and permanent problems can develop. The blisters that eventually burst can penetrate the deeper layers of the skin and cause ulcers that are very itchy. Scratching the ulcers will then cause the bacteria to spread easier and faster and soon your child may be riddled in these ulcers, called ecthyma. These ulcers, because they are so deep, can cause permanent pigment changes or scars. There is also a severe kidney infection that occurs in 2% to 5% of those with echthyma or impetigo, and those most susceptible are children. However, most that contract this kidney disease will fully recover after treatment.

Obesity has important implications for the physical and emotional health of children and adolescents and increases the risk of continuing obesity and development of diseases later in life.  Preventive counseling from health care professionals is an essential component of treating obese children and adolescents.  Although this is such an important part of treatment for obesity, health care professionals have consistently shown low rates of prevention counseling in his/her everyday primary care practices.  There are several barriers in providing preventive counseling.  These include lack of clinician self-efficacy and knowledge, limited time, and poor reimbursement for preventive services.  Even if the health care provider does not encounter these barriers in his/her practice, the interventions have generally had disappointing results.  Obesity is known for its confirmed links to increased mortality.  There is also evidence that health care professionals do not frequently counsel his/her overweight patients.

 

For school-aged children, the majority of nurses often used changes in eating patterns and limitations of specific foods.  Less often, nurses used low-fat diet and modest calorie restriction.  Other eating interventions used when treating obese children and adolescents are listed.  Approaches that were reported included: eating more fruits and vegetables, controlling food portions, increasing intake of water, eating more fiber, and learning to determine hunger and fullness levels.  Decrease in sedentary behavior and increase in unstructured physical activity of free play are used often as well as often recommended increase in organized activity. The responses for the adolescent activity interventions were very similar to the responses for school-aged children. 

 

Toilet training is a big step for most young children. Children must be completely ready for toilet training, both physically and mentally, before they can even begin learning. To identify this, listen for them asking to use the toilet or declaring they want to be a big boy or girl and wear underpants. Next, you must determine if your child has the motor skills needed to begin using the toilet like the ability to take their pants off. Can you child control their bladder muscles? Signs of this include having a dry diaper after a long nap and always using the bathroom at the same time of day. Most children will have the physical skills for toilet training before they have the emotional mindset for it.

 

A child is generally ready for toilet training some where between the ages of 22 months and 32 months. Boys tend to take longer to train than girls and the time it takes to train a child to use the toilet differ even amongst different races. For example, African-American babies are trained earlier than Caucasian babies. It can take anywhere from 3 months to a year to properly train your child. Even after they are trained, help will be needed wiping after defecating usually until the age of 5. Most children will also need your help in public bathrooms that they are not used to.

Bullying is a very serious problem that can affect your child’s mental and physical health. If you feel your child is being bullied but does not want to talk about it, you can look for some of the warning signs. Kids that are bullied are usually shy, quiet and reserved. They lack self confidence and normally don’t speak up. Other children may become angry and start expressing themselves through anger. They may bully other children or may frequently get in fights. They usually have behavior problems.

 

If you find out your child is being bullied, there are a couple steps you can take to build your child’s self confidence. Because most bullying occurs at school, talk to the principal and vice principal about monitoring and controlling bullying better. Teach your child to walk away from the bullying and to tell an adult. This is the only effective means for the bullying to stop.

 

If your child still lacks confidence after being bullied, try to get them involved in social activities that can help them make friends and meet other kids. Things like sports and recreation programs, drama clubs, church youth groups and music groups may be the key to your child’s confidence. Find something they enjoy and encourage them to pursue it by joining a social club that shares their interest. Once they realize that there are other students like them that share their interests and want to be their friend, they will start to rebuild their confidence.

Childhood obesity prevalence is dramatically rising today.  As these obese children get older, it will lead to epidemics of diabetes, hypertension, degenerative joint disease, and cardiovascular disease.  Obesity is a challenging health problem for everyone including children.  Studies are being done to learn more about the causes of obesity and scientists are searching for effective treatments but have not found any easy interventions and solutions. 

 

Many researchers think that the sudden rise in childhood obesity is due to the current environmental and social trends.  For example, children are spending much more time playing video games, watching television, and sitting in front of the computer instead of playing outside and being physically active like children many years ago used to do.  There is also evidence that parental obesity also increases the likelihood of obesity development in children.  Children who have two overweight parents are at the greatest risk for developing obesity because children often follow the examples that are set by his/her parents. The foundation of therapy for obese children is modifying what is eaten and his/her levels of activity.  Currently, about 11% of United States children are classified as overweight.  Also, 14% of children and adolescents have a body mass index between the 85^th and 95^th percentiles which places them at risk for becoming overweight. 

If you think your child has the symptoms of mononucleosis, called “mono,” and caused by the horrible Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), then it is important to know how the disease is diagnosed and treated. Mono can be diagnosed fairly easily with simple blood tests. First, the doctor will perform a physical examination to check for swelling of the tonsils and glands, as well as the spleen as mono is a major cause of inflammation of the spleen. The doctor will also ask about the energy level of your child, as mono is a disease that makes you very tired.

If there are indications of mono, the doctor will then order a “mono spot test” for your child. All this test does is look for the presence of the EBV and will also rule out other causes of the symptoms your child is experiencing. If the results are positive, then you must begin treating mono.

To treat mono involves a lot of home remedies. The doctor will not prescribe any medication for most cases, however, if the symptoms are severe enough your child will need to take something like corticosteroids to reduce the swelling of the tonsils, other glands and spleen if applicable. Other than that, the treatment calls for lots of rest. Normal things like Advil and Tylenol can be given to combat fever and pain.